Eat that! Spectacular moment US F15 fires missile and blows opponent out of the sky during training exercise off British coast
- The mission was part of a live fire exercise off the coast of the UK on December 8
- Footage shows an F15-C Eagle fighter jet shooting down its target with a a Sidewinder missile
- The event was carried out by the 493d Fighter Squadron, or ‘The Grim Reapers’
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This is the incredible moment a US F15 fighter jet fires a missile and blows its target out of the sky.
The mission was part of a live fire exercise off the coast of the UK on December 8.
Video footage shows a view of the cockpit of the F15-C Eagle fighter jet as it fires a Sidewinder missile towards its target over the Atlantic Ocean.
The target was being towed 300 feet behind a subscale drone. It is not clear what type of drone was used in the exercise.
This is the incredible moment an F15 fighter jet fires a missile and blows its target out of the sky
Video footage shows a view of the cockpit of the F15-C Eagle fighter jet as it fires a Sidewinder missile towards its target over the Atlantic Ocean
From another aircraft, we are then shown the missile hitting its target and destroying it, leaving debris in its wake
The missile was a training version of the AIM-9M Sidewinder, a short-range air-to-air missile which entered service with the US Navy in 1956 and subsequently was adopted by the US Air Force in 1964
From another aircraft, we are then shown the missile hitting its target and destroying it, leaving debris in its wake.
The missile was a training version of the AIM-9M Sidewinder, a short-range air-to-air missile which entered service with the US Navy in 1956 and subsequently was adopted by the US Air Force in 1964.
The F-15C Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas, now Boeing, in 1972.
A 493rd Fighter Squadron F-15C is pictured heading out to the exercise over the Atlantic Ocean
Aircraft assigned to the Lakenheath-based 494th Fighter Squadron on the flight line at Tyndall AFB, for the Combat Archer 19-8 exercise
It entered service in 1979 and is among the most successful fighter jets in production today, with no losses in aerial combat.
The aircraft is predominantly used by the US Air Force as well as the air forces of Saudi Arabia, Israel and Japan.
In a statement, the U.S. Department of Defense said: ‘The training helped pilots gain real-world experience by using infrared-guided missiles aimed at flare packs being towed 300 feet behind a subscale drone.’
The statement added that ‘the training enabled Liberty Wing fighter pilots to meet mission requirements, becoming combat-ready in a wartime environment.’
The event was carried out by the 493d Fighter Squadron, nicknamed’The Grim Reapers’, part of the United States Air Force’s 48th Fighter Wing located at RAF Lakenheath, in Suffolk.
The 493d provides air-to-air offensive and defensive support for US and NATO operations.